Foreclosure Prevention Outreach in the City of Phoenix

Kick-Off Assembly

More than 300 people lined up early to meet with HUD Certified Housing Counselors during a foreclosure prevention workshop at Phoenix City Hall. The forum was sponsored by the City of Phoenix, The Arizona Foreclosure Prevention Task Force, Federal Home Loan Bank of San Francisco, Congressman Ed Pastors' Office, and the Phoenix HUD Office. It was designed to provide "homeowners-at-risk" with information about resources and assistance available through Community Development Block Grant-funded agencies.

At this event, Congressman Ed Pastor, Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordon, and Fred Karnas, from the Arizona Department of Housing, were on-hand to offer their support and commend homeowners for taking the necessary steps to retain their homes. This also helps preserve neighborhoods. A five-member panel included representatives of a housing counseling agency, a lending institution, FHA, Community Legal Services and Phoenix real estate professionals. They discussed a variety of important topics, including: household/cash flow management; loss mitigation options designed to retain the home; FHA streamline programs; tips for recognizing housing scams targeting distressed families; and advice on short sales, when keeping the home is no longer an option.

The Arizona Foreclosure Prevention Task Force was created in 2007 to reduce residential foreclosures in Arizona and the impact of foreclosure on families and communities. In January 2008, the task force began with its first train-the-trainer event and conducted its first outreach event, March 2008, in Avondale. Since then, the task force has traveled around to many communities delivering active outreach and education. The goal is to provide homeowners with solutions to guide them in making effective and positive decisions to solve their home foreclosure problems. This can be by either by preventing foreclosure, or if necessary, to limit its undesirable effects with short sales/pre-foreclosure or deeds-in-lieu.

The Arizona Foreclosure Prevention Taskforce is a volunteer-driven organization. It is led by representatives from both the public and private sector, and supported by local, state and federal governments, agencies and institutions.